Well seeing as their was someone here on the forums who had a bright green Varsity he equipped , at least for a a while, with the new campy 10 speed stuff I say go for it. It will never be a light or high end bike, but if you like the ride why not?

It's a bit ridiculous to attempt to save weight by getting a carbon fork when the frame weighs 1-3lbs more than a nicer vintage one. Not to mention all the other parts on the bike including and especially the wheels are very heavy. If you like it, do whatever you want but if you want a light bike that performs well I wouldn't bother.

The biggest crime with a bicycle is not riding it. If it means you'll ride it more, I'm all in favour of the suggested changes. The only thing you positively MUST DO, is post the serial number and date codes of the original components, so that I can enter them into my Centurion database. It looks like a mid 1970s model, one of the Raleigh Grand Prix clones.

The biggest crime with a bicycle is not riding it. If it means you'll ride it more, I'm all in favour of the suggested changes. The only thing you positively MUST DO, is post the serial number and date codes of the original components, so that I can enter them into my Centurion database. It looks like a mid 1970s model, one of the Raleigh Grand Prix clones.

I think you'd be more interested in my 72 LeMans that's serial begins with A.

Aaron I suppose in my case the point was to build a bike I could thrash while also being capable and enjoyable to ride. I've done all manner of terrible things to this bike and its like the proverbial Timex watch that takes a lickin and keeps on tickin. I didn't want to kill a good bike or even worry about killing a good bike.....so a Varsity picked off the side of the road fit the bill. You know the deal...the only things left after the big bomb goes off are gonna be cockroaches and Varsities (and giant radioactive mutant cockroaches riding varsities!).
Could I have used an old Hardtail MTB? Sure but this was free-er and, IMHO cooler.

yeah it's dressing up a pig and I would probably find a different frame to put that stuff on.

That said, go for it if that's what you really want.

+1 Yes, it is dressing up a pig, its your bike and your money. Myself, I save my best components for nicer frames. I find enough nice frames that I don't put good to very good parts on the low end ones.

And I most certainly WOULD NOT let someone on the internet talk me out of doing it. Its really your choice!

Aaron I suppose in my case the point was to build a bike I could thrash while also being capable and enjoyable to ride. I've done all manner of terrible things to this bike and its like the proverbial Timex watch that takes a lickin and keeps on tickin. I didn't want to kill a good bike or even worry about killing a good bike.....so a Varsity picked off the side of the road fit the bill. You know the deal...the only things left after the big bomb goes off are gonna be cockroaches and Varsities (and giant radioactive mutant cockroaches riding varsities!).
Could I have used an old Hardtail MTB? Sure but this was free-er and, IMHO cooler.

Zaphod - apologies, I meant the OP - not your's. Your bike makes perfect sense to me - it's a practical, cool build. The OPs plan doesn't make sense to me because the strengths of a Le Tour are its durability and utlity, which aren;t served by the CF fork or parts.

Zaphod - apologies, I meant the OP - not your's. Your bike makes perfect sense to me - it's a practical, cool build. The OPs plan doesn't make sense to me because the strengths of a Le Tour are its durability and utlity, which aren;t served by the CF fork or parts.

No apology necessary dude! I didn't think you were hatin' on my Varsity. I did gloss over the OP's mention of trying a CF fork on his bike though.

Only thing I can say about that is use lots of spacers and leave the steerer tube long so you can put the fork on something else at some point. Do they even make CF forks with Threaded steerers?

In any case, by now we understand that hipsters are essentially people who are overwhelmed by simply being alive and are constantly looking to escape the unpleasant business of thinking for themselves that the rest of us generally refer to as "adulthood." But where do they come from? Well, Iowa apparently:.........

So there you have it. Hipsters come from Iowa, they don't like to think, they do like to ride bikes, and they ultimately want to be artists or something. Really, though, I can't think of many places less conducive to artistic endeavors than New York City, which essentially consists of wealthy financiers and the people who serve them. http://bikesnobnyc.blogspot.com/2011...ters-come.html

Mini U-Lock Color Skins, a Hipster Sensation

Or as my friend Mel said at the Bike Kitchen the other day:

"If you are worried that your U-lock color does not match the
color of your sweet deep V fixed gear rims.......you may be a hipster."